the war in iraq which helped elect president obama initially in 2008. there are lessons from both of those wars about the risk of acting. >> yeah. >> as i said before, also risks from not acting. >> indeed. in terms of acting scaling over surface but there was so much i wanted to ask you about. the congress acted with remarkable -- in fact, mir aclas haste thursday and frit to carve out this great big fat exception for air traffic controllers. >> why do you think they were suddenlyability act with almost unanimity? >> because they were getting out of town on friday. i think it makes the congress and the president signing this look bad. what about the other programs that have been cut? >>> you know, of course, not only members of congress but a lot of donors and voters are being inconvenienced by the slowdowns at the airport. it's a sign that congress responds in some cases, but, you know, you don't hear the people who have been hurt by the cuts in social programs. they don't have the same voice. >> cuts in head start, in meals on wheemz and whatever. ri